Goddell says he was prepared to render punishments at the same time he punished the coaches/FO (March 21st), but that he delayed the punishments until late April after the NFLPA requested the delay. As proof, the NFL sent Judge Berrigan the letter the NFLPA sent to them on March 7th requesting the delay of suspensions. HOWEVER, the NFL had replied to the NFLPA denying the request for delay on March 16th... it was even posted on nfl.com.

The NFL has filed its answer to U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan's request for information on what transpired in March when commissioner Roger Goodell announced his discipline for the coaches and New Orleans Saints officials involved in the alleged bounty system, but not for the players. Here is the relevant text:

NFL'S SUBMISSION PURSUANT TO THE COURT'S ORDER OF AUGUST 15, 2012

By Order dated August 15, 2012 (Doc. No. 112), the Court directed the parties "to identify the date on which the NFLPA requested that Mr. Goodell defer issuing discipline notices to the players rather than issuing them at the same time that he disciplined the coaches" and, if that date was not already in the record, for the Parties "to submit the relevant evidence." (Id.) In response to this Order, the NFL respectfully submits the following:

1. By letter dated March 7, 2012 from Richard Berthelsen, then-General Counsel of the NFLPA, to Jeffrey Pash, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the NFL, the NFLPA requested that the Commissioner agree to defer, "for a period of at least sixty days," disciplinary proceedings "against any of the individuals involved" in the Saints' pay-for-performance bounty program to afford the NFLPA an opportunity to conduct its own "comprehensive review" of the circumstances. (Declaration of Adolpho Birch, Ex. LL (submitted herewith).)

2. By letter dated March 14, 2012, Mr. Pash responded, stating that after careful review, the League had concluded that "there is no basis for delaying the imposition of any discipline in this matter, and particularly not as it may apply to a club or any non-player employee of a club" (emphasis added). (Birch Decl., Ex. MM.)

3. Commissioner Goodell had intended to discipline the Saints players who were involved in the pay-for-performance/bounty program at the same time that he disciplined the Saints franchise and its non-player employees. However, in light of the NFLPA's request, in telephone conversations with DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFLPA, occurring sometime between March 14, 2012, the date of the letter referred to in Paragraph 2, and March 21, 2012, the Commissioner agreed to address first discipline of the club and non-player employees and to afford the NFLPA a reasonable opportunity to conduct its own investigation and express its views before he imposed discipline on the players. (Declaration of Roger Goodell, (submitted herewith).)

4. After no additional information was received from the NFLPA (other than the Declaration of Mr. Hargrove (Ex. W)), notice letters to the players were sent on May 2, eight weeks after the NFLPA's request for a 60-day deferral.